


In Restless Slumber

by a3rie



Category: Firekeeper Saga - Jane Lindskold
Genre: Character Speculation, F/M, Unrequited, Unresolved Tension, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-23 02:06:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6101239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a3rie/pseuds/a3rie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place shortly after Wolf Hunting but before the events of Wolf's Blood.</p><p>"Do not blame the Spring, sweet Firekeeper. It has done nothing but as it always has, being Spring. You know who is really to blame for your worry, who has been whispering in your unguarded ear. I know who you see in your dreams."</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Restless Slumber

**Author's Note:**

> I'll go ahead and tell you, I hadn't even read the last book at the time that I wrote this. I just couldn't resist the temptation to play off the hints that were dropped at the end of Wolf Hunting about The Meddler's interest in Firekeeper.

_No one ever got so close to her without consequence._

Firekeeper shook her head, which felt a little fuzzy, and briefly wondered what was wrong with her. This was not in line with how she handled herself. With a pointed jerk, she pulled away from him, his fingers coming free of her usually coarse hair. For some reason said hair had been combed and she wondered if that were his doing. Of course, it had to be his doing. None of this was natural. Maybe... maybe none of this was real?

"Does my touch repulse you?" The Meddler questioned with a small smile that countered his pretense at sounding hurt. The two of them sat in what seemed like a swirling grey cloud. The sounds and scents were muted and though she was not walled in, this place made her uneasy. This was the second time the man had graced her with his presence by means of invading the sanctity of her dreams.

Firekeeper turned her attention back to him and defiantly shook her head. It still startled her at how real he was. He no longer had the head of a wolf, instead he now liked to keep the face he'd worn when he'd come for his 'favor', a face that still seemed hauntingly familiar. She licked her lips at the memory of the kiss and the man noticed the action immediately. His eyes lit with amusement and a knowing smile slid across his face. It wasn't hard to guess what all passed through her mind; indeed, he was currently seated in it. Being within her dream gave him a certain level of intimacy and he could feel impressions float across his conscience even if he could not outright read her thoughts.

"Why do you come here?" She asked him.

"I've already told you before. I was in a solitary environment for years and years. Is it really so bad to want conversation?" He questioned. He slid an inch closer to her and lowered his voice, "Contact?"

The wolfish woman really couldn't bring herself to think to answer him no. After all, she had grown up with a pack and even now didn't like going long on her own. She had always had Blind Seer and she could not imagine what it must be like to ever go without any company at all. Without her noticing, he had completely closed the distance between them, his fingers threading through her hair again. His touch caused chill bumps to rise across her skin.

She hoped that her actual body was unaffected least Blind Seer notice. At that thought she felt guilty, as if she were betraying the blue eyed wolf by allowing this man to sit so close and touch her so freely. It unsettled her to realize this strange man– who's name real name she did not know– could have any sort of effect her. To help distract her from the strange sensations coiling in her stomach she said, "You feel real here." It was both a statement and a question.

He laughed cheerfully before proclaiming proudly, "This is one realm in which I'm not bound to the rules."

~*~~*~~*~

_Blind Seer suspected, she knew, but he wasn't saying anything... yet._

They were in a grassy field now, a scene much improved over the blandness of his first few visits. Something else had changed too. "You blush awful genuinely for someone who isn't herself the least bit modest. The weather is warm enough to go without a shirt and so I shall." The Meddler was highly entertained by her pointedly averted gaze. Of course he had only altered his appearance to bait her. He couldn't say he was displeased with the results.

Recalling her own times at trying to make Derian Carter red in the face by purposefully being what he considered indecent, Firekeeper decided that she probably deserved this mild indignity. He could only be doing this to tease her in a similar fashion to how she had harassed the red-headed young man.

Yet, knowing this, Firekeeper still couldn't explain why she was reacting the way she was. Her body seemed to be thinking something of its own accord. Its rebelliousness was troublesome and she drew her knees up to firmly rested her head on them. Then, to prove a point, she bodly trained her eyes upon his lean figure. He was bereft of everything but a pair of slacks in the tradition of the Hawk Haven style as he lie stretched out beside her, exposing as much skin as possible, it would seem. She schooled her expression into indifference, because– as she had to keep reminding herself– she _was_ indifferent.

"The weather is not real here," she told him in regards to his excuse for choice of clothing.

"This entire place _isn't real,_ but it is of your memory and since I am visiting why should I not play along and match?"

He had told her before why he visited so she fought the human urge to ask again. ' _He smells like he wants more than just_ _simple_ _companionship,_ _'_ she mused to herself wryly. She narrowed her eyes as she considered the mystery of him. All his words to her thus far had been innocent, his manners that of a person who truly just wanted a friend... Yet, his voice held a lingering sweetness that made her uneasy.

"Do I make you nervous, sweet Firekeeper?" His question suddenly brought her thoughts back to the present.

She didn't like the fact that he'd used a name Blind Seer sometimes gave her. "You are… _you_. You come with a feeling that is distinctly yours and so I have not yet found a way to properly characterize and respond to your... company. But I'm not nervous." She replied honestly enough.

Her answer clearly amused the Meddler and a somewhat mocking smile played across his lips.

~*~~*~~*~

_Did she really want to contemplate how she'd ended up in this situation? No._

The Meddler's arms were draped around her waist as he held her from behind, her face tilted up to meet his. She had not relaxed her guard, so it was no surprise when it happened. He had not asked permission and so neatly avoided the chance that she would say no.

She wasn't sure if she _didn't_ want this and that was another thing, along with the how, that she would rather not think too much about.

This one was only a brief contact, more chaste than his first, but this time it was she who was able to break the kiss. She felt her cheeks stain pink and she looked up at his face. He could be called handsome, she supposed. He shared some qualities with Derian and she had learned over time that her friend was considered quite fetching by most standards.

Without a word he gently turned her around to face him fully. His eyes softened with a smile as he slowly traced the shape of her cheek. She felt her blush deepen at the naked admiration in his eyes as he closed the distance between their lips once more. Once again she let him. This time she could feel the smile that pulled at his features even as he continued to press his mouth to hers.

When she felt his lips part against her skin she swiftly pulled away. Her heart was beating nearly as fast as it did after a long run. Her gut churned and her conscience was already on fire with thoughts of Blind Seer.

"Maybe it's just me," the man said with a casual sort of drawl to his words, "but perhaps the wolf is in for some competition?"

Firekeeper shot him a glare for his words and took a deliberate step away from him. While her inner monologue repeated that there was no way at all that he could be right, the man's smirk seemed to promise, 'all in good time.'

 


End file.
